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116 Of The Oldest Color Photos Showing What The World Looked Like 100 Years Ago
When you think of old photos or historical pictures, you naturally think in terms of black and white, but as you can see from these stunning vintage photos from the turn of the 20th century, color pictures have been around for a lot longer than you think.
Before 1907, if you wanted a color photograph, you (well, a professional colorist) basically had to color it using different dyes and pigments. Still, two French brothers called Auguste and Louis Lumière revolutionized all that with a game-changing process that they called the Autochrome Lumière. Using dyed grains of potato starch and light-sensitive emulsion, they could produce color in vintage photography without the need for additional colorization. Despite being difficult to manufacture and somewhat expensive, the process was very popular among amateur photographers. As a result, one of the world's first books of color photography was published using the Autochrome Lumière technique.
The brothers revolutionized the world of color photography until Kodak took things to a whole new level with the invention of Kodachrome film in 1935, a lighter and more convenient alternative that quickly made the Autochrome Lumière obsolete (although its popularity continued in France up until the 1950s). Kodachrome was also eventually overtaken by the rise of digital photography (Kodak stopped manufacturing Kodachrome in 2009), which is now by far the world's most popular way to take pictures. Still, modern advances in photographic technology wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of early pioneers like Auguste and Louis Lumière. Scroll down for a collection of stunning historical photos in color using their groundbreaking technique.
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#1
Christina In Red, 1913
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#2
Flower Street Vendor, Paris, 1914
#3
Heinz And Eva On The Hillside, 1925
#4
Sisters Sitting In A Garden Tying Roses Together, 1911
#5
Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1914
#6
Daydreams, 1909
#7
Musing (Mrs. A. Van Besten), C. 1910
#8
The Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1914
Ani Asnever 7 years ago
Wow! This photo is most remarkable for the shot of the old Trocadero palace, seen through the tower's arch! It hasn't been there for 80 years.
#9
A Girl Holds A Doll Next To Soldiers' Equipment In Reims, France, 1917
#10
The Grenata Street Army, 1915
#11
Among The First Coloured Pictures Ever Taken By Louis Lumière, 1907
#12
Two Girls On A Balcony, 1908
#13
Young Girl Amidst Marguerites, C. 1912
#14
Air Balloons, Paris, 1914
#15
Charlie Chaplin, 1918
#16
Autochrome Of Mark Twain, 1908
#17
Christina In Red, 1913
#18
Outdoor Market, Paris, 1914
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
There are still street markets like this in Paris if you know where to look. They aren't all that hard to find, either. If you see vans parked on the street that have spectacular graffiti all over them, there's a market nearby. The graffiti on the vans gets competitive and some of it is spectacular.
#19
Woman Smoking Opium, 1915
#20
Two Girls In Oriental Costume, 1908
AsHaysha Salam 7 years ago
Can people really stop with the appropriation, it's clothing !!! Should we stop eating food from different cultures or watch different
#21
Van Besten Painting In His Garden, 1912
#22
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mostar, 1913
#23
Eva And Heinz On The Shore Of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, C. 1927
#24
Girl In A Garden With Hollyhocks, 1908
#25
Sweden, Near Gagnef (Mother And Daughter In Traditional Clothes), 1910
#26
Else Reading By The Nile, 1920
#27
Woman And Girl By A Brook, 1910
#28
Family Portrait At Roannay, Belgium, 1913
#29
The Neptune Fountain, Cheltenham, 1910
#30
An Autochrome Of Two Sisters, 1908
#31
Apan (Young Samurai), 1912
B.r. Hutchinson 7 years ago
Oh the changes he would have seen...to go from a society like the outfit he has on represents, to WW2 where he might have been an officer in his 40s, to the resurgence of Japan in the 70s (if he lived).
#32
Autochrome Of Else Paneth On A Camel, 1913
#33
Japan, Kyoto, 1912
Nikki Scott 7 years ago
The girl in the middle... for a split second I thought her obi belt was see through
#34
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1912
#35
Mother Of Seven Making Fringes For Knitted Shawls, Galway, Ireland, 29 May 1913
#36
Louis Lumière's Daughter And Her Dolls, 1913
#37
Lanchester 38hp Tourer, 1913
#38
Porte Saint Denis, Paris, 1914
Shawn Trudeau 7 years ago
If you go to Google Maps and find the site, most if not all of the buildings are the same even the older looking house through the arch.
#39
Joan In Red Riding Hood Cape With Basket, 1907
#40
Autochrome Of A Young Girl, 1910
#41
Girl With A Parasol Sitting On A Bench, 1908
#42
Giant Oranges,paris, 1914
M O'Connell 7 years ago
Very interesting. I thought they only did weird inflatable stuff recently!
#43
Egypt, Giza, 1913
Jose Baeyens 7 years ago
They were right : the old egyptians did remodel the head to a pharaoh's head and it was probably a lions head first. Compare the erosion of the body with that of the head.
#44
Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913
#45
An Autochrome Of Etheldreda Janet Laing Daughter In A Garden, Holding A Brightly Coloured Bunch Of Pink Flowers, 1908
#46
Mongolia, Near Ulaanbaatar (Buddhist Lama), 1913
#47
Traditional Irish Knitwear, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland 1 May 1913 (Left), 14 Year Old Girl From The Claddagh Wearing Traditional Claddagh Dress. Galway, Ireland, 26th May 1913 (Right)
#48
Lunch Of A French Soldier In Front Of A Damaged Library, 1st April 1917
#49
Metro, Paris, 1914
Grant O'Neil 7 years ago
Seems like maybe this photo might be later than 1914. My understanding is that the Adrian helmet was not introduced until 1915 (at least two of the soldiers in this photo seem to be wearing the helmets) and the all horizon blue colour seen here was not introduced until late 1914 (at the outbreak of the war French poilus were wearing red trousers, naturally this made them far too easy to see and contributed to heavier casualties)
#50
Margate Beach, Blue Girl , 1915
#51
The Family At The Lake, 1925
Izolda Bronstein 7 years ago
Hey, isn't this again our Eva and Heinz on vocation in the Alps? Not just some nameless "a family" ))
#52
Palace Of Horticulture, Pan American Exposition, 1915
#53
Highland Castle, Scotland, 1920
#54
Mrs. Warburg, 1915
#55
St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice, 1925
#56
Market Stalls Outside An Egyptian Ruin, 1913
#57
Children By The Breakwater, 1908
#58
Galway, Ireland, 1913
#59
India, Bombay (Sadus), 1913
#60
Autochrome Of A Young Girl, 1910
#61
Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1914
Curd Vesters 7 years ago
strange how this one is totally different from the other one from the Moulin Rouge from 1914... Look at the building left 19141578_1...8b9208.jpg 
#62
Flower Street Vendor, Paris, 1914
#63
Peggy In The Garden, 1909
Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
So beautiful. This reminds me of that beautiful Swedish painting of children with lanterns--the name of which escapes me (help anyone?)
#64
The Younger Girl Stands Beside Her Sister Holding A Pink Parasol. The Older Girl Rests Her Bonnet On Her Lap, 1908
#65
Stagecoaches At Ghent, 1912
#66
Staithes Harbor, 1915
#67
Two Fishermen And A Boy, An Spidéal, Galway, Ireland, 31 May 1913
Anne Nadel-Walbridge 7 years ago
My money is on this being a family portrait of three generations.
#68
At The Entrance To The Pyramid Of Menkare, 1913
Evelyn Morgan 7 years ago
It looks like it could be a scene from an Agatha Christie mystery in the middle east.
#69
A Rusty Buoy, 1908
#70
Sphinx And Camel, 1913
#71
One Legged Man, Paris, 1914
#72
Lumiere Brothers. The Game Of Billiards, 1907
Stinkypie Ticklebum 7 years ago
This one is framed very well. The most 'like a painting' one yet!
#73
Galway, Ireland, 1913
#74
Shepherd’s Boy, C. 1913
#75
The Kiosk Of Philae, 1913
#76
Oranges In Uhlený Trh (“coal Market Square”), Prague, 1910
#77
Eva Poses After A Successful Hunt In Scotland, C. 1920
#78
Senegalese Soldiers Serving In The French Army As Infantrymen Are Resting In A Room With Guns And Equipment Next To Them, 16th June 1917
#79
Man With Book Sitting In Chair, 1915
Rachel Brekhus 7 years ago
"I am holding this book so that everyone will think I know exactly what I am talking about. I am really just sort of nervous while I wait for this wedding, funeral, or other boutonniere-requiring occasion to begin."
#80
Horse, Paris, 1914
#81
Eiffel Tower River View, Paris, 1914
#82
Two Girls At The Gate, 1915
#83
Cafe La Tasse, Paris, 1914
#84
Autochrome Of A French Military Cemetery, 1916
#85
Woman In Floral Silk Robe, 1915
#86
The Temple Of Dor El-Medine, 1913
#87
Italian Riviera, 1910
#88
Drunk Man Sleeping On City Street, Paris, 1914
#89
Woman Sitting In Library, 1915
#90
Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (Prisoner), 1913
#91
Peggy Reading, 1909
brandee Schmidt 5 years ago
Omg I have that book at home! It's a Mother Goose fairy tale book!! ❤❤❤
#92
Girl With A Bucket, 1915
#93
A Small Customer, 1915
#94
Lady And Fruit Dish, 1920
Stina Kolling 7 years ago
She's probably sitting there wondering why in the world the photographer insisted on posing her with all this fruit in the backyard.
#95
Autochrome Photo By Cdt Tournassoud, 1910
Max Lindenman 7 years ago
Austrian Jaegers! Makes my heart swell to recall that my great-grandfather left for America to dodge the imperial draft!
#96
Washing And Bleaching, 1912
#97
Autochrome Of French Soldiers Operating Machine Guns During The Second Battle Of The Aisne, 1917
#98
The Last Digger, 1910
Ged Maybury 7 years ago
Warburg took a lot of shots on this particular beach. Note the cart-tracks. Got me wondering.
#99
The Butcher's Shop, 1915
Pocho Basura 7 years ago
presently I am traveling in south asia, this 1915 meat shop is cleaner by far than any I see on the street here. looks like cow?
#100
On The Sands, 1910
Magdalene Green 7 years ago
Again this is a mid twenties beach scene. The clothes and hats and hemlines are all wrong for 1915
#101
Morocco, Benguerir, 1912
#102
Civic And Military Garb, C. 1911
#103
Three Men Playing Cards, 1915
#104
Autochome Of A Street In Jerusalem By An Unknown Artist During The Early 20th Century
#105
Karnak, Egypt, 1913
Maureen Loosemore 5 years ago
It just looked like some ramshackle doorway until I noticed the size of the person standing under it.
#106
Newsvendor In Reims Streets, 1917
#107
Autochrome Of A French Military Observation Post, 1917
Mark Sutton 5 years ago
Anything Freddie?... Nup. Pierre?...Nah...Pub for a quick wine a cheese platter? OUI!!!
#108
A Woman With A Cart Filled With Milk Cans In Rue De Vesle And A Man With Another Cart In Rue De Talleyrand Behind Her. 3rd March 1917
#109
Krusevac, Serbia (Market Scene), 1913
#110
Two Nurses And Child Dressed As "Uncle Sam" In Wwi Support Parade, Pasadena California, 1917
#111
The Orange Stall, 1908
#112
A French Soldier Stands Next To A Table With German Shells And An Aircraft Propeller, Along The Western Front In Reims, 1917
#113
Autochrome By An Unknown Artist Of The Italian Battleship Caio Duilio During The Early 20th Century
#114
Two French Soldiers Assigned To A Telephone Station Are Washing Their Laundry In A Trough Of A Fountain, While Three Others Are Watching, 18th June 1917
Stinkypie Ticklebum 7 years ago
Wait–if two guys are washing, where's the third watcher? I see the guy in the cave and the Sgt Shultz type guy...
#115
French Soldiers Dig Through The Rubble Of A Destroyed Building In Reims, France, 1917
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What do you think ?
Danny Root 7 years ago
I remember being a kid and thinking that because all old photographs were black and white, the whole world looked that way. This helps put a much more realistic perspective on things way back when.
blugeagua 7 years ago
Yeah it's funny that the older you get you realize that actually since the beginning of time the way we all see now has always been the same.
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John L 7 years ago
As a serious amateur photographer, I am enjoying this post more than any I have seen here for some time. We need more of these priceless pictures. :D
Tony Cabré 7 years ago
Google "Daguerrotype" and you'll find stuff from 1840-1860's
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Flora Polvado 7 years ago
Some of these I want to hang on my wall, others I want to paint, all beautiful!
Danny Root 7 years ago
I remember being a kid and thinking that because all old photographs were black and white, the whole world looked that way. This helps put a much more realistic perspective on things way back when.
blugeagua 7 years ago
Yeah it's funny that the older you get you realize that actually since the beginning of time the way we all see now has always been the same.
Load More Replies... John L 7 years ago
As a serious amateur photographer, I am enjoying this post more than any I have seen here for some time. We need more of these priceless pictures. :D
Tony Cabré 7 years ago
Google "Daguerrotype" and you'll find stuff from 1840-1860's
Load More Replies... Flora Polvado 7 years ago
Some of these I want to hang on my wall, others I want to paint, all beautiful!
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